[Are you willing to accept The Depraved One's blessing?]
Time seemed to have slowed as Zok stared at the notification in front of him. Still, he didn't have much time to leisure and then make his decision because behind the text, he could see the ponytail rushing towards him with a fist full of thunder.
The name of the person or thing that was willing to help him was a cause of concern for him. But right now, he couldn't afford to be worried about that. He had to survive first. He could think about other things later.
'Yes!' Zok thought to himself.
The next moment a cool, soothing sensation spread all across his body. But the feeling was short-lived as soon, he was once again forced to experience the gut-wrenching pain like he had done when he obtained the system. He began sweating like crazy, the pain was getting unbearable. However, the pain passed away as quickly as it had arrived and a look of relief splashed on his face.
'That should save me right-'
Just as he was thinking that the ponytail's fist pierced through his chest, making a gaping hole in the place Zok's heart should have been. The man had a weird smile on his face as Zok's blood splashed on him. Zok thought he was the one responsible for all the depravity around him, but at that moment, the look on Ponytail's face was the epitome of depravity.
"A bast.ard like you deserves to die here." The man mumbled before withdrawing his bloodied fist and rushing towards his fallen brother, "Brother, are you okay? Oi Old bast.ard! You must have some healing herbs. Hand them over to me now or I'll kill you as well!"
The old man hurried to do as he was told. After the sight he had just witnessed, he could no longer dare to talk back at someone like the giant. While the old man was bringing medicinal herb to Ponytail, Zok slumped down to his knees before dropping hard on the bloodied ground.
He thought he had a chance to fight against those bast.ards but just like that... it was all over. His revenge on the shamans was left incomplete. On top of it, no one would ever know the truth of what happened in the cave and that good-for-nothing father of his would most probably declare him a traitor, an outcast to stop anyone from questioning him and there was nothing he could do about it now.
'At least it was fun while it lasted... right?' Zok thought to himself and activated hivemind for the last time, 'Kaira... go. Run away... and don't look back.'
Kaira let out a slow howl. Since all of the enemies were busy, it was the best time for Kaira to make her getaway. Zok knew if she didn't move now, she would just end up the way he had. But when he thought everything was over, the system gave him another chance to live.
[Depravity meter is full. Activating the Depraved One's First Blessing: Backlash]
[Backlash (Level: Maximum): If the meter of depravity is packed to the brim, allows the user to take on lethal damage without dying. In other words, makes the user immune to death for a short duration of three seconds. After this duration is over, the user's next attack would deal 10 times of the damage accumulated during the duration of invincibility. This blessing can only be activated when the depravity meter is full and has no cooldowns or restrictions otherwise.]
All of a sudden, the gaping hole in the middle of his chest started recovering by itself. All of Zok's blood that had been spilt on the ground, found its way back into his body. It felt like a few hours had passed but in reality, only a couple of seconds had passed since Zok's death.
"What... is going on?"
Zok mumbled, but then realised now was not the time to think about useless things. it seemed like whatever the system had done to him, worked. He had evaded death successfully, and now was the time to take care of the one who caused this mess in the first place.
Zok slowly turned around to face the man who almost took his life away. The ponytail was so absorbed in trying to heal his brother that he hadn't noticed the danger approaching him from behind. By the time he realised something was wrong and turn around, it was already too late.
Zok plunged his spear right into the man's chest before lifting him off and watching his grave expression as it turned from shock to pain to... nothingness.
"You... demon-worshipping bast.ard... what kind of dark magic did you use..."
Zok, however, did not care to reply and the next moment, the man was dead.
[You have achieved an impossible feat! EXP +5000]
[You have slain a level 20 B-grade Occunian. Control +20, Knowledge +10, Strength +10. Exp +3000]
[Your familiar
[Depravity meter: 2.87%]
The old man stood next to him, too scared to move away. The man feared that since he had helped the henchmen, Zok would kill him as well. That's why, when Zok turned to face the man, his face turned whiter than Kaira's fur. He took a step towards the old man and he tripped over the henchman's corpse and fell right on his bu.tt with a loud thump.
"P-Please... I beg y-you..." The old man broke into tears while Zok's face remained emotionless, "I-I have a family to take c-care of-"
"Forget about them." Zok finally broke his silence, "Even if I don't kill you, the shamans will, because you have seen too much. They will hunt you down if you remain in this place. So do yourself a favour and leave the Wilderness. Go settle down somewhere else and never return or I will kill you before the shamans get the chance."
The old man couldn't believe what he was hearing. This young man had a heart after all. However, he had a slight problem.
"W-What about my family, O merciful one!" The old man mumbled, "H-How can I leave them to fend for t-themselves?"
"Traders die on the route every day. That's why even if you go missing, no one will suspect you and think you died while on your way back. Thus no one would touch your family." Zok sighed before massaging his head, "But if you return, they would know you have crossed through the checkpoint and torture you and your family for crimes you couldn't even think of. It is better for you to leave, or else I can kill you, thus ensuring that your family wouldn't be harmed. What do you think I should do?"
[Depravity meter: 2.97%]
"I-I understand, O great one. I w-will leave this instant."
"Good. And leave those herbs behind. You can take the rest. That should be enough to help you to settle down somewhere nice."
The old man quickly nodded and rushed back to the wagon, leaving nothing but the two sacks of herbs and other materials behind.
[Since you have received his blessing, The Depraved One expects you to entertain him more in the future.]
'If I can get stronger by entertaining someone, then I'll gladly do it.' Zok smiled back, 'Now... let's increase our depravity more, shall we?'
[The Depraved One is looking forward to your adventures.]